If A Tree Falls In An Angolan Wood…

January 11th, 2010 | by: chris | View Comments

Every news story to come from the actual games will likely come second to anything involving Togo, as it should. So easily the second biggest of the CAN’s second day is the thrashing Malawi gave Algeria, proving World Cup participation means nothing. But on the grander scale, the game itself may mean nothing compared to the gate.

Look at the photo above. No, that is not the team shoot days before the game, nor is it a back file photo from yesteryear. The photo was taken today, mere moments before Malawi and Algeria kicked off at the Estadio 11 de Novembro in, as the caption says, “ghostly silence”.

The caption claims the stadium was dotted with a few hundred spectators, while a match report claims it at a solid 1,000. To get a definitive answer, let’s see if you can count in the highlights – shouldn’t take too long:

[101gg]

At least this gave them an opportunity to flash the lovely seating designs.

This is, as you would expect, something of a mini financial disaster for Angola, who built the stadium in time for the tournament and opened it all of weeks ago. It housed plenty who were treated to a wonderful show Sunday (well, depending on which side they were on), but ticket revenue is supremely important to the tournament organizers whose initial outlay was undoubtedly huge, and they’ll need that turnover from every game, not just a few here and there.

Yet now, watching Burkina Fase and Cote d’Ivoire do battle, the stadium is thoroughly packed to the brim. That match review nailed it on the head, then: the “unpredictability” of this tournament. Was there a reason why that stadium looked at though it was on timeout? Did everyone expect Algeria to win that easily? Are precious moneys being saved for the bigger games – the Angolan games?

Given the games, the off-pitch happenings and everything in between, perhaps there’s a new motto for this tournament: expect the unexpected.

And as we tail off, Didier Drogba has been left scoreless in a nil-nil draw with Burkina Faso, only confirming the theory. Here’s to future champions Mozambique.